Pak Affairs

  Brahamdagh’s Volte Face & the Way Forward It seems that the government’s efforts to persuade dissident Baloch leaders for holding talks on the Balochistan issue are bearing fruit. In August, after meeting with senior Balochistan Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, the Khan of Kalat, Mir Suleman Daud Khan, promised to consider returning to Pakistan if “right conditions” are created in …

Civil-military relations have had a chequered history in Pakistan. In the best of times, it has been a working relationship defined by narrow set of the rules whereby military has allowed civilians to take the front seat while it deals with complex security and terrorism-related problems. In the worst of times, there has been a pronounced tug of war which …

  Introduction Quintessentially, the United Nations Charter is an international treaty; its Article 33 in Chapter VI provides for mechanisms for pacific settlement of disputes. It provides that the parties to any dispute, shall, in the first place, and in cases where international security and peace is likely to be endangered, seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, …

This year the nation observed the Defence & Martyrs Day all over the country with unprecedented zeal and solemnity. It was indeed an occasion for acknowledging the supreme sacrifices given by our martyrs and sharing with their families their sense of pride and fortitude. But this was also an occasion to look back and do some real soul-searching to determine …

Pakistan army is probably the only fully functional institution in Pakistan as it has been playing various laudable constructive roles in the development of the country. It is clearly evident from history that Pak Army has always been at the forefront whenever the nation is hit by natural calamities and other emergencies. Be it the devastating earthquakes or the ravaging …

In the contemporary world, a highly volatile South Asia often remains in the limelight of world politics. Pakistan and India are the two archrivals located in this part of the world. However, ever since their inception, a sense of mistrust between both countries has prevailed as their relations are marred by tense situations, blame games and covert intelligence operations leading …

Flushing out the anti-Pakistan elements  “Armed with their billions, NGOs have waded into the world, turning potential revolutionaries into salaried activists, funding artists, intellectuals and filmmakers, gently luring them away from radical confrontation.” Suzanna Arundhati Roy (Indian writer and activist) On July 02, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, while hearing the NGOs case, observed that …

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is under immense pressure to improve tax compliance in the country. It’s because the number of income tax return filers is consistently lower than what is required. Low taxpayer compliance is a matter of serious concern for the government as tax-GDP ratio remained less than 10pc during the last decade. The income tax returns …

Cooperation, not hostility, is the way forward While things seem to be stabilizing at home with the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan and the Rangers-led targeted operation in Karachi, Pakistan’s diplomatic initiatives on its eastern and western fronts appear to have fallen by the wayside. Despite Pakistan’s readiness to make a fresh start in relations with Kabul as well as …

The Judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the 18th and the 21st Amendments The factum of the creation of Pakistan as an independent state derived its legality from successive constitutional instruments: the 1956, the 1962 and the 1973 Constitutions being the most conspicuous. The extant constitutional instrument is the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 that has been, to date, …